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Background: Scoliosis alters both posture and gait. Pedobarography is a biomechanical method for assessing gait that has been rarely used in scoliosis-specific gait research. Objective: To determine differences between left and right scoliotic posture in plantar pressure and force gait profile among young males. Methods: Twenty-one young, trained males assigned to one of two groups: left scoliotic posture (LSP; N=12) and right scoliotic posture (RSP; N=9) group. Subjects were assigned to a group based on forward-bending test and controlled for age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), right and left leg length. All subjects were blinded for group they were assigned and study outcomes. Examiners were blinded for study outcomes. Subjects walked at self-selected speed along the 9,5-meter-long walkway for 2 minutes. Plantar pressures and forces were measured using pedobarographic device Zebris medical FDM 1.5.

Backgrounds: Main objective was to evaluate methods for assessment of pedobarographic features of gait using FDM1.5 pressure measuring device (PMD)-within complete gait analysis, with regard to device, protocol&data analysis, specifically to basic morphology and certain distinctive characteristics. Methods: Protocol was standardized for descriptive&inferential statistical methods (63 quantitative variables). Participants characteristics (n=22; 13 male&9 female): age 14-35 y.o., average 172,56cm body height, average 73.11kg body mass (19.47 BMI), with minimum of 5 years of regular sport&recreational activities. Results: Protocol output was consistent for repeated measurement of an individual. Tested differences between genders, before&after 'partialization' of results (excluded influence of longitudinal dimensionality), in both cases reveal significance in: Stride width (t_GSW=4.15), Step time_L (t_TSTL=2.88), Step time_R (t_TSTR=3.59), bilateral asymmetry in Step time (t_TST_D=3.32), Cadence (t_TC=-3.44) on p<0.01 level, and Ant/Post position (t_BAP=2.33), bilateral asymmetry in Time to change heel to forefoot(t_LTP_D=2.26), Time maximum force Midfoot_D % of stance time (t_TMAXM=2.33), and bilateral asymmetry in Contact time Heel (t_CH_D=2.33), on p<0.05 level. Differences in barefoot/footwear gait were specially expressed in variable MAXPH (t=-8.84, p<0.05). Conclusions: Statistical tools, such as partializations of the results by specific characteristic which tend to increase heterogeneity, may standardize&improve the power of the protocol and method.

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